Indeed, consider how much outrage over the past few years has been generated by fans complaining that beloved characters like Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) are “ out of character” because they make decisions with which the viewer does not agree. It’s an approach that aligns with passive media like film and television. “It’s because you’re not him that you get to see him.” As critic Danielle Riendeau observed, it’s a choice that puts the audience at a remove from Joel’s internal life, “You’re a participant in the story, but it is not your story to tell.” “It’s the contrast of the conflicts between what the player is thinking versus what Joel is thinking that allows you to explore what we’re doing with that character,” explained co-director Bruce Straley of the choice. There is a dissonance there, one that plays with the particular strengths of video games as a medium, particularly in the way that they can make players culpable and complicit. It potentially forces a wedge between the player and the character, with Joel’s (Troy Baker) motivation potentially at odds with that of the person holding the controller. While it frustrated gamers who were used to particular conventions within the medium, it served an important thematic purpose. It remains somewhat of a point of controversy among gamers. “It rubbed some people the wrong way, that they didn’t have a choice, because - especially at the end of games - they’re so used to having this moral choice,” admitted the game’s co-director Neil Druckmann. Carol Pinchefsky docked the game’s review score in protest to the climax, which forces the player to kill a doctor who was armed only with a scalpel.
“The game doesn’t give you a choice,” noted Paul Tassi.
This is particularly true of the ending, which “Look to the Light” adapts reasonably faithfully. One of the big arguments about the video game version of The Last of Us concerns the importance of player agency within the narrative, specifically the ability of players to make choices that can affect the outcome of the game. This discussion and review contains spoilers for The Last of Us episode 9, “Look to the Light,” the season 1 finale.
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